The Canary Dave

Morning all. Heavy rain, thunder and lightning, but apart from that everything is fine. The curfew that has been imposed on large parts of France doesn't affect us, although just the other side of the bread machine is covered. One of the local villages is half in our département, and half in the next one that has the restrictions. I doubt somehow that the gendarmerie will be checking up on neighbours moving around at night. Have a good day whatever you are doing.

 

Am in a state of near-mourning today. Have just been advised that my car has failed its MOT - and the diagnosis is not good. The curse of living by the sea, in area where roads are kept ice-free by salt for three months of the year - a corroded front suspension. Decision time - it's an old car and the cost of repairs would almost equal its value. To scrap or not to scrap...

 

I had a car that was done for all over the part of a heating dial. A Rover and the part, being a known fault, was as rare as rocking horse poo... I ended up selling a cracking little motor to my nephew's then partner. Wrote it off within a month. I was so gutted I went on a bit of a bender at various pubs that weekend and didn't drive myself til the Wednesday.
Is the cost of the repair less, equal or more expensive than the value of the car to you? That's the real question.

 

Have a good weekend y'all. The wife and I are off to the Sierra to escape further into the rural hills. I hope to see a Watford win when I return to the (un)civilised world.

 

Hope that you have a relaxing weekend Mex.

 

Morning all, Grey, some showers, but not cold here at the moment. If you look at a local map for the area you will find marked "seasonal streams", in fact there is one just down the road from the house. Driving to the Post Office this morning I noticed just how many there are. Fields that were baked dry in the summer now have a ribbon of water flowing across them at the lowest point. As suspected once the rain did return it is making up for the earlier shortage. Have a good three point day everyone.

 

please log in to view this image

What a great picture this would make for a jigsaw puzzle.

 

Morning all. Dark and wet in rural France today. Any thoughts of being outside are out of the question. I have been watching the Tour of Italy over the past three weeks, and there has been some spectacular scenery and climbs. Today is the final stage, a time trial over 16 km around the streets of Milan. We have the unique situation of the two leading riders after eighty five hours, twenty two minutes and seven seconds inseparable. A dead heat in a lap of an entire country. Unreal. Good luck to the Aussie Jai Hindley and the Brit Tao Geoghegan-Hart. Have a good day whatever you are doing.

 

Good day to you all...
Apple picking here... followed by another trip with our builder friend to another old house....

 

A hard one...
With have always changed cars due to long journeys and holidays over europe... meanwhile our friends who do the same and tow a caravan have never bought a new car and just run them into the ground....

 

It certainly is a tricky one. My travels in the car don't normally include long distance trips - down to Edinburgh and back is about my limit these days - and I've always tended to be in the 'run them into the ground' category. So I've decided to go ahead with the repairs - mainly because I'd have to fork out far more to buy another car, and in the probably vain hope that I can get another year or two out of it.

 

Morning all. Bright sunshine and clear blue sky one minute and then the clouds roll over and deposit their contents on us. The forecast suggests it could be like that all day. Very sad to read this this morning. "Former Manchester City academy player Jeremy Wisten sadly took his own life due to depression on the back of being released by the club. He was just 17 years-old." We know that football has a very low number of youngsters who do make the grade, so it seems vital that the academies prepare them to cope with a life outside of football, as well as keep the dream alive that work hard and you will become rich and famous. A difficult balance to achieve. I hope that you all have a good day.

 

Morning all. Damp, cloudy and not that warm today. Made a trip to the bread machine and it wouldn't accept either coins or my card. Having put some small coins in it gave me back more than I had put in. Clearly something has gone wrong with it. So a trip across the border to the supermarket that bakes every morning, and bought the last loaf which is full of seeds. It is quite a good flavour, and gives you an hour or two of exercise getting the seeds out of the teeth. Have a good day everyone.

 

Good day all...
Just toured a local urban zoo with two very little grandkids in wet and chilly conditions.
However we do seem to have secured ' the flat in an old house' fantasy of mmes...... so a move in the winter period now looks likely...

 

Good news - although your wording suggests that it's not particularly a fantasy of yours...

 

(no comment!)

 

Morning all. Heavy cloud one minute, followed by dazzling sunshine the next. Guess it is going to be one of those days. As the coronavirus sweeps across Europe for a second time, we are going to have the President back on TV tonight. One can only assume that greater restrictions will be imposed again. I wonder if I will need my permit once more for a visit to the supermarket. We will see what he has to say, but if it requires a further clamp down on my activities, then so be it. Have a good and safe day everyone.

 

Morning all. Grey, but dry and mild at the moment. A dry spell is forecast for the next week, so now my water butts are refilled it would be a good time to put another couple onto my chain of them. The problem with that is that the DIY stores that sell them will be closed again from tomorrow, so it will just have to wait. It is no wonder that I spend a lot less money when we are locked down, so there is an upside to all the current problems. Have a good day whatever you will be doing.

 

Morning all. Bright sunshine, dry and warm here today. Several family members in the village today from Paris and Tours come to place flowers on the graves of grandparents. Go into any cemetery this weekend and you see a blaze of colour from the pots of Chrysanthemums. Reports from Paris last night of huge traffic jams as people tried to leave the city for the family homes in the country before the midnight lockdown. Some country folk are a bit wary about having people join them from areas of high infection, and steer well clear of them for a couple of weeks. Others were trying to get back into Paris having been on short breaks down south. Back to printing off our permits now so that we can go shopping. Somewhat cheaper to use a sheet of paper than pay a €135 fine. Have a good day whatever you must do.

 

Morning all. A lovely bright blue sky and it is warm for the time of year. Made trip to town yesterday to get stock of essentials in. Would not want to run dry with us leading 1-0 and 10 minutes to go. Filled in permit to travel, not needed, but was amazed at the number of motorhomes and caravans on the move. I don't know if the owners were going home, or maybe going to a remote mountainside for the next month. All very quiet in town with the cafe at the shopping centre closed. Lots of people go there for lunch, so it was easy to park and get around. Daughter has to make three trips a day often to the school bus stop, about three miles away. Filling out her permit to travel in pencil so that she can change the time, rather than use a new one each time. Think I need shares in computer paper. Have a good day.